The Department of Mysteries Revisited
by Trace2
Summary: JKR got it wrong. THIS is what really happened at the Ministry of Magic *Warning* OotP Spoiler!
1. Default Chapter

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The Department of Mysteries Revisited: A Sirius Point of View

By Trace (with apologies to JKR)

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Part One

"I was just trying to help," muttered Sirius Black, wiping the sweat off his brow with the sleeve of his robe. A loud shriek was Buckbeak's angry reply. The hippogriff limped into a corner of the dark room, his feathers ruffled. 

"That's what you get, allowing dirty, half-breed animals to defile this house. Serves you right, you traitor," said the portrait of Pestilentus Black smugly from the wall across the room. Sirius' great-great-great grandfather cast a dark look towards the door, making it clear he didn't refer to Buckbeak alone. 

"Go stick it in a cauldron," said Sirius grimly. He glanced down sourly at the bloody gash on his left arm, flicked his wand and watched as the skin repaired itself. "I give up. You win, Buckbeak," he growled. "Go ahead and lick your wound. You'll probably get an infection, but don't come squawking at me. I tried." 

Sirius bent to gather up the bandages strewn across the floor, his long, dark hair falling across his pale face. It was then that the pain hit him squarely in the back of the head. With a grunt he toppled over, slamming face down onto the floor. He knew what this meant—urgent Order business. He pushed himself up and searched the pockets of his robe until his hand closed around a small sphere. He withdrew the mini, magic 8-ball and shook it. 

Instantly, Sirius heard a voice boom inside his head. It was the very last voice he wanted to hear anytime or anywhere. The small, white triangle in the window of the 8-ball rose to the surface. It read, "Severus Snape is calling."

"BLACK, WHERE ARE YOU?" Snape's voice demanded loudly, echoing painfully in Sirius' head.

Sirius used his free hand to staunch the blood flowing from his nose and ground his teeth in frustration. _The slimy git isn't even trying to make this easy_, he thought. Then he smiled viciously through the blood on his face and roared, "I'M AT HEADQUARTERS. WHAT DO YOU WANT?" That _had _to have hurt. He could almost hear Snape moaning in pain. His smile became pleasantly self-satisfied.

Snape's voice came again, softer this time, almost a hiss. "I want nothing from you, Black. I'm merely checking up on you. Making sure you're where you're supposed to be…HIDING!" Snape's voice left Sirius' head abruptly, and the triangle inside the magic 8-ball sank from view. 

"Bugger off, Snivellus," Sirius snarled to no one in particular. Bloodied and bad-tempered, he shot black looks at both Buckbeak and Pestilentus (who was whistling a happy tune) before stalking out of the room and slamming the door. He passed Kreacher in the hallway. The house-elf bowed low and erupted in the most horrible giggles at the sight of Sirius. 

"Master will get his own, yes yes. Kreacher will see to it for the Mistress, yes," he muttered in a loud stage whisper. 

Sirius' lip curled in disgust, but he continued down the hall, nearly knocking Lupin, who had just exited from a room on the left, off his feet. 

"I _don't _want to talk about it," Sirius said angrily. Lupin merely raised an eyebrow and let him go. 

Sirius stomped downstairs to the kitchen, intending to clean himself up. He found Moody and Tonks sitting at the kitchen table arguing about safety protocol. 

"But it was Kingsley," Tonks was saying matter-of-factly.

"How'd you know that if you didn't perform the _Veroculus_ spell?" Moody growled. "Did you grow a magical eye while I wasn't looking?"

Sirius could feel the cold gaze of Moody's magical eye the second he walked through the door, even though Moody was facing away from him.

"He knew the password, Alastor," Tonks said, giving an exasperated look at Mad-Eye.

"What the blazes happened to you, boy?" Moody jumped up and spun to face Sirius, wand held at the ready. "Are we under attack?"

Sirius glanced down at his robes; they were smeared with blood. He was sure his face didn't look any better. "No."

"Well, what then?"

"I had a wand accident," Sirius said sarcastically. He was not about to tell anyone about Snape checking up on him.

"You didn't lose a buttock, did you?" Tonks asked. Her mouth twitched with a barely suppressed smile as Mad-Eye glared at her with both his eyes. 

Before long, Sirius had managed to clean himself up with Moody's help. Mad-Eye turned out to be surprisingly good at removing bloodstains from wool. 

"I've had lots of practice," he muttered darkly.

Sirius sat down at the kitchen table and promptly ignored Moody and Tonks as they resumed their verbal sparring match. He felt like brooding quietly, but visibly. It wouldn't do to have the others think he was happy hiding away in his parents' house. There was one question in particular that he'd been brooding about for weeks. 

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Why am I never able to help my friends? He didn't understand it. His life had been a complete and utter failure. His family had never wanted him, not from the time he was a baby. He had failed to save James and Lily. He had even twice failed to take his revenge on Peter. So far he hadn't managed to do anything more for the Order than offer his house as a safe haven, and even his house didn't want anything to do with him. He felt bad about snapping at Buckbeak earlier, but it hurt that even the hippogriff didn't believe he could be of help. 

Sirius was well and truly brooding by the time Lupin and Kingsley Shacklebolt sauntered into the kitchen. 

"Anything to eat?" Shacklebolt asked casually.

All hell broke loose. Moody, Tonks, Lupin and Shacklebolt all scrabbled in their pockets, each withdrawing a magic 8-ball much like Sirius' and shaking it vigorously. Sirius removed his from his pocket hopefully, but there was no one calling him. He looked at each of the four Order members in turn. Their lips were moving, but Sirius couldn't hear a word they said. 

He was left out _again_. No doubt the caller thought Sirius was helpless. It was too much—way too much. He sprang up from his chair and paced the kitchen furiously as the others conducted their secret conversations. He might as well not even be here for all the help he'd managed to give. It pained him to agree, but Snape was right. He was hiding like a whipped dog. He fumed silently.

"Padfoot." Lupin's voice startled him out of his thoughts. "That was Snape. He thinks Harry's gone off to the Ministry of Magic."

"What? I was just…He didn't tell me…that git!" Sirius snarled.

Lupin gave Sirius a strange look, but didn't ask him any questions. "Apparently, Harry had a vision that you were captured by Voldemort at the Department of Mysteries."

"He's after the bloody prophecy," Moody said. 

Sirius blanched to a whiter shade of pale. 

"Look, we have to go," Lupin said urgently. "If Dumbledore comes here, tell him what's happened and where we are."

"NO!" Sirius exploded, "I'm going with you."

Everyone else in the kitchen froze, watching the two of them silently. 

"Snape wants you to stay and warn Dumbledore."

"Since when do I have to take orders from _him_? If Harry's in trouble because of me, I'm not going to sit here at headquarters doing nothing. I'd rather be dead!" Sirius' eyes locked onto Lupin's. Lupin flinched first, looked down at the floor, and after a brief moment, nodded. 

"KREACHER, HERE!" Sirius yelled at the top of his voice.

With a loud crack, Kreacher appeared in the kitchen. "Yes Master?" he said loudly, then more softly, "filthy swine that should be flayed alive and left to rot with the garbage."

"If Dumbledore comes here, you must tell him that we've all gone to the Department of Mysteries. Tell him that Harry is in danger. That is an order, Kreacher."

Kreacher smiled broadly and bowed, but Sirius didn't see it as he had already whirled around to join the group. 

"To the atrium, I think," Moody said.

"They can't Apparate inside the ministry, Alastor," Shacklebolt said, nodding towards Sirius and Lupin.

Mad-Eye focused an eye each on Lupin and Black, "Count to ten after I've left, then follow me to the atrium. You'll get in," he said with grimace, "although I'll probably face an inquiry for this." Then with a crack, he was gone. 

Ten seconds later, four more thunderous cracks rocked the kitchen and blasted Kreacher off his feet, as the rest Disapparated all at once.


	2. Department of Mysteries Revisited: Chapt...

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The Department of Mysteries Revisited: A Sirius Point of View

By Trace

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Part Two

The Ministry's atrium was all but deserted, and a small red light was blinking overhead. "I don't like it," said Moody as he joined the new arrivals, "those fires should be kept stoked at all times. And where's the bloody guard? Alarms are going off all over the place." His magical eye revolved so fast it nearly made Sirius heave. 

"We're wasting time," Sirius growled, "Harry could die while we stand here." He took off, and the rest followed him down the hall at a run and piled into the nearest lift. They descended to the ninth floor, where more red lights were blinking. 

"Shall we split up and look for Harry?" Tonks asked.

"Hell no! We know where to look for Harry," Moody said. 

"The prophecy room, then?" she asked.

Moody removed what looked like a compass from a pocket inside his robe. He tapped it with his wand and said clearly, "Harry Potter." Sirius watched in surprise as the compass arrow described several complete circles before finally halting in the NNE position. Suddenly the compass sprouted wings and shot out of Moody's hand. "Follow it!" Mad-Eye cried.

Down darkened corridors they raced, through rooms they barely noticed, the compass bouncing frantically off closed doors. They heard a shout of help close by. It sounded like Ron Weasley, and although the compass led them another way, Lupin veered off to give aid. The others followed the compass, which finally stopped dead before a locked door. 

"Stand back," Sirius said, pushing up the sleeves of his robe.

"Not so fast boy, that's the Death Ch--" Moody began, but Sirius wasn't listening. All he knew was that Harry was behind that door, in danger. He pointed his wand at the door and shouted, "_Reducto!_" The door burst apart, and what they all saw below them, on the sunken floor of an amphitheater, was horrifying. Neville Longbottom lay curled up in pain with Bellatrix Lestrange standing over him, smiling. Harry himself stood upon a dais in the middle of the room, framed by a veiled archway. Lucius Malfoy was reaching for something in Harry's hand. There were Death Eaters all around. They all looked up in surprise.

Sirius dimly noticed that Lupin had burst through another door into the room, and that a jet of red light had sizzled from behind him and barely missed hitting Lucius Malfoy in the forehead. The scene in front of him captured all of his attention, and it wouldn't have mattered if he'd been facing the Death Eaters alone. He was finally going to see some action. He was finally going to _help_. All the frustrations of the past year, the enforced inactivity, being cooped up in the house of his childhood, and Snape's taunts boiled over in a rage. He'd had enough. "_Stupefy_!" he shouted, and aimed the stunning spell directly at the nearest Death Eater. A direct hit! He started down the steps, firing more hexes and dodging a few close ones, wearing the first smile he'd had on in weeks. 

The fighting was fierce, but Sirius was glad to see Harry slip off the dais and run for the stairs with the Longbottom kid. He stepped up his efforts to give Harry more cover. He advanced on a hooded Death Eater, their spells coming fast and furious, and the jets of light clashing in mid-air. Next thing, out of the corner of his eye, Sirius saw another hooded Death Eater strangling Harry, while one he thought might have been Dolohov sprinted forward to help finish Harry off. He had to end his duel, now. _Harry needs my help_.

He saw his Death Eater casting a stunning spell and hesitated a half-second to change the timing of his counter spell. He ducked, rolled and came up firing. The Death Eater was blasted off his feet and came to rest, unconscious, among the seats in the fourth row. Sirius spun around to see McNair, unmasked, sprawled at Harry's feet, Neville writhing on the floor and Dolohov preparing to cast a spell. He charged into the scrum, knocking Dolohov halfway across the room. The ensuing duel was short. 

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" he heard Harry scream, and saw Dolohov's limbs snap together before he landed hard upon his back.

"Nice one!" Sirius shouted as he scrambled towards Harry and forced his head down to avoid a few misfired stunning spells. "Now I want you to get out of –," but his words were cut short as a green jet of light streaked past his arm, and a wisp of bright green smoke rose from the sleeve of his robe. _That_ was close_._

He glanced up just in time to see Tonks bouncing lifelessly down the steps of the amphitheater and his other cousin, Bellatrix, laughing with glee and staring at Harry with a covetous expression on her face. _She will NOT get Harry! _Not even bothering to glance back, he yelled, "Harry, take the prophecy, grab Neville, and run!" and then dashed off to confront his evil cousin. 

Their duel was intense, as only battles among family can be. Bellatrix was fast, but Sirius had years of pent-up energy and anger to throw at her. She couldn't pin him down, and her counter spells were coming just a fraction of a second later each time. Bellatrix retreated to one side of the dais, trying to gain an advantage, so Sirius jumped up upon the dais to close the distance, and that's when the whispering started. At first it didn't bother him, he just continued to strafe Bellatrix with stunning spells. She had nowhere to hide; it was only a matter of time. Sirius advanced until he was standing in front of the veiled archway. He ducked a stunning spell and laughed. "Come on, you can do better than that!" 

Suddenly, he heard a voice he knew—a voice he'd never thought he'd hear again. 

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You've never failed me, Padfoot, the disembodied voice said from the other side of the veil. The voice was that of James Potter. 

Sirius froze, and Bellatrix's stunning spell caught him full in the chest. 

Sirius wasn't sure what had him more stupefied, hearing James voice or his cousin's spell. He felt himself teeter and looked around the room. Bellatrix was laughing triumphantly. Death Eaters were out cold everywhere—_that must be Dumbledore's work_, he thought, as he realized the old man had arrived. Everyone's eyes were upon him as he started to tilt backwards toward the veil behind him. He saw Harry and Remus watching him in horror. His eyes traveled upward to the top seats of the amphitheater, and that's where he saw the shadowy figure. 

Unseen by anyone but Sirius, she stepped forward, her eyes blazing with anger. Sirius didn't need to see them up close to know those eyes were cat's eyes, green shot through with golden flecks. He knew he was looking into the eyes of Death. 

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No, not her, not like this. 

But as he fell backwards and felt the veil brush against his back, he stared Death defiantly in the eyes and saw the flick of her wand. He felt an intense squeezing sensation all over his body. _So this is what it feels like to be vanished off the face of the earth_, he thought irreverently, and then everything went black. 


	3. Department of Mysteries Revisited: Chapt...

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The Department of Mysteries Revisited: A Sirius Point of View

By Trace

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Part Three

Sirius clawed his way to consciousness to the sound of pounding. He opened his eyes and realized that the pounding was in his head. He groaned loudly.

"It's been a long time, Sirius."

His bleary eyes focused on the owner of the voice. She regarded him solemnly from a chair across the dimly lit room. The woman was petite, with long chestnut curls framing her cat's eyes. She wore black robes, and strangely, bright blue sandals. Sirius noticed that her toenails were each painted a different color. She held his wand in her hand, and Sirius knew her name as well as his own, Sarah Finn. 

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Oh that's just great, thought Sirius. After surviving Voldemort, the dementors and Bellatrix, when Death finally came for him, she sported multicolored toes. "You vanished me," he croaked.

"I'm very good at that, if you remember," Sarah replied brightly. "Sorry about the headache. I overdid the vanishing spell a little. I'm afraid you've been out cold…uh...for a few days."

She got up from the chair, and Sirius found himself growling in the back of his throat. He ignored his pounding head and stood defiantly to face her. "Is this where you kill me, or do you hand me over to the ministry, like a good little Auror?" he sneered.

In a blink she had stepped up to Sirius and hit him with a full-arm slap. _Hard_. He had forgotten about her tendency to do that. Her eyes blazed. "Yes, I had nothing better to do, so I decided to save you from the Veil of Death so I could kill you at my leisure." They glared at one another angrily. "I _ought_ to kill you," she finally muttered, "and I haven't been an Auror for fourteen years. Not since my idiot fiancé was imprisoned for murder," she finished with a frown. 

Bitterness crept into Sirius' voice. "Oh, did I ruin your career at the ministry? I guess they didn't want Aurors who were connected to mass murderers, right? But I would have thought your monthly petitions to have me given the Dementor's Kiss would have done the trick." 

"My what?" she demanded, looking outraged.

"Crouch's cronies loved telling me how diligent you were about petitioning the Wizengamot to have me given The Kiss immediately."

Sarah's eyes nearly shot sparks at that. "And you believed them?" She drew back her arm for another slap, but Sirius ducked. "I PETITIONED EVERY MONTH FOR YOUR RELEASE!" she shouted, then took a deep, calming breath before continuing. "But they wouldn't listen to me. That's why I…well I quit the ministry."

Sirius felt his heart give a painful double thump before racing on at double speed. "You did?"

Sarah gave him a withering look, "I knew you'd never betray James," she said, then after a pause, "or Lily. But I was off on a mission when they took you, and they wouldn't let me see you after I'd returned, so I never got the chance to ask you what really—" 

And she still didn't get the chance to ask, since she was interrupted when Sirius chose that moment to kiss her. 

The instant their lips touched, memories started to flood through Sirius. Happy memories he'd thought long lost to the Dementors were suddenly replaying themselves in his mind. He remembered that afternoon, many years before when he'd spent the O.W.L. written examination period for Defense Against the Dark Arts pretending he didn't notice that Lily Evans' pretty friend, Sarah, was sitting behind him. 

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Memories…

"I'm going to be an Auror, Black. What do you think about that?" Sarah had asked, a challenge in her voice.

"You, an Auror?" he'd said, smirking. "You're insane, Finn." 

"You should have seen her during our practical exam," Lily had gushed. "She vanished Professor Stern from the exam room and made him reappear in the girls' bathroom."

Sirius almost barked with laughter at that, and he gave Sarah a grudging grin that caused a passing Ravenclaw fourth-year to sigh loudly. "Did you really?"

She'd nodded, laughing. "Mind you, Professor Stern was _not_ pleased, but I got an Outstanding grade anyway. And a ministry wizard recruited me because of it." 

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Memories…

There was the time she'd gotten revenge on him for bewitching her books so they shouted swear words anytime a teacher was within earshot. It was on a Hogsmeade visit, and he'd been hanging around Zonko's, twirling his wand idly and looking cool for her benefit. She had calmly walked up to him, grinned at James, Remus and Peter and then hexed his wand. His so-called friends were too busy laughing to help him, so he'd had to chase his floating wand down the main street of Hogsmeade. He'd been so angry after he'd finally retrieved his wand, that he had stalked up to Sarah and kissed her right there in front of everyone. 

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Memories…

He remembered the time, over Christmas break in their last year at school, that he'd fooled the anti-boy charm and gained access to the girls' dormitory by transforming into a dog. "Padfoot!" Sarah had gasped, followed by giggles. 

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Memories…

How happy they were when their best friends, James and Lily had gotten married. And how thrilled James and Lily were when he'd given Sarah that promise ring…

Sirius' head snapped up and he grabbed Sarah's left hand. The ring gleamed brightly on her finger. "You still have it," he said quietly, wonder lighting his face.

She was breathing hard and shaking, but she nodded. "That's how I knew you were in trouble in the ministry," she said. 

Before giving it to her fifteen years earlier, Sirius had bewitched the ring so that she could see him in it whenever she wanted. It had seemed like a hopelessly romantic gesture at the time, but it may have saved his life in the Department of Mysteries. "If you could see me this whole time, and believed I was innocent, why did you never come to me?" he asked, and cursed the quaver that crept into his voice.

"Because I've been tailed by ministry witches night and day since your escape. If I'd come, I would've led them right to you. But I figured that if you were going to be reckless enough to duel with Bellatrix in the middle of the Ministry of Magic, then I needn't be so discreet anymore either." 

"_Sirius_!" Harry Potter's voice had suddenly issued from somewhere inside Sirius' pocket. Again, this time louder, "_Sirius Black_!"

Sarah gasped, flicked Sirius' wand and said, "_Accio_ mirror!" A small mirror flew from Sirius' pocket and into Sarah's waiting hand. 

"That's Harry. I gave him the mirror in case he needs to talk to me," Sirius said, making a grab for the mirror. But Sarah fended off Sirius, dropped the mirror to the floor and smashed it with her foot.

"What'd you do that for?" Sirius yelled, his face getting a little red.

Sarah didn't flinch. "Because right now, _everyone_ thinks you're dead, including Harry. Yes," she said at the stunned look on his face, "I heard the terrible news from Dumbledore himself. No one saw me vanish you from the Death Chamber, so no one besides you and me knows that you're alive. And that is an advantage I mean to keep."

"But, couldn't we just tell Harry…?"

"No," she said sadly, "if you want to help Harry, you must remain 'dead' for a while." Sarah reached up to stroke Sirius' glowering face. "I promise you that in the end, you and I will be the last surprise Voldemort ever gets."

Sirius smiled slowly and looked into her cat's eyes. He realized that for the first time in over fourteen years he felt like he belonged, like he was home. His smile turned into a devilish grin. "So, what shall we do while I'm dead?"

"_Padfoot!_" Sarah squealed in surprise, and then there were giggles.


End file.
